Notable Achievements

Professor of Religion Elaine Craddock published the essay “Kālī Dances into the Cremation Grounds of the Tamil Land” in the Routledge anthology Regional Communities of Devotion in South Asia: Insiders, Outsiders, and Interlopers, edited by Gil Ben-Herut, Jon Keune, and Anne E. Monius.

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Professor of Religion

Expertise

Hinduism; Feminism and Religion; Tamil literature; Religion and the Body

Elaine Craddock received her MA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. 

  • Biography

    Elaine Craddock received her MA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. 

  • Research

    Hinduism in South India, particularly Tamil Śaivism and Tamil Hindu goddess worship. Religious and social practices of thirunangai/transgender communities in Tamil Nadu. 

  • Publications

    Selected publications:

    “Goddess Worship and Bhakti.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism. Ed. Tracy Coleman. New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.

    “Kālī Dances Into the Cremation Grounds of the Tamil Land.” In Regional Communities of Devotion in South Asia: Insiders, Outsiders, and Interlopers, edited by Gil Ben-Herut, Jon Keune, and Anne Monius. New York: Routledge, 2020.

    “Recalibrating (Field)work.” QED: A Journal of GLBTQ Worldmaking, Vol. 5, No. 3, Fall 2018: 100-116. Included in the Queer Forum on Navigating Normativity Between Field and Academe in India, edited by Jeff Roy.

    “Māriyammaṉ.” Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Hinduism and Tribal Religions, edited by Pankaj Jain, Rita Sherma, and Madhu Khanna. Dordrecht: Springer, June 30, 2018.

    “The Half Male, Half Female Servants of the Goddess Aṅkāḷaparamēcuvari.” Nidan: International Journal for the Study of Hinduism, Vol. 24, December 2012: 117-135.

    Siva’s Demon Devotee: Karaikkal Ammaiyar; SUNY Press, 2010.

    “Karaikkal Ammaiyar: Bridging the Cankam and Saiva Worlds.” In Affinities and Oppositions: Relationship between Tamil and Sanskrit, edited by Kannan M and Jennifer Clare. French Institute, Pondicherry and the Tamil Chair at the University of California, Berkeley, 2009.

    “The Anatomy of Devotion: The Life and Poetry of Karaikkal Ammaiyar.” In Beyond the Circle: Women’s Rituals, Women’s Lives in Hindu Traditions, edited by Tracy Pintchman. Oxford University Press, 2007.

    “Reconstructing the Split Goddess as Shakti in a Tamil Village.” In Seeking Mahadevi:Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess, edited by Tracy Pintchman. New York: SUNY, 2001.